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When I was young I was amazed at Plutarch’s statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty to learn Greek. I am amazed no longer. Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English novelist and playwright [William Somerset Maugham]
The Summing Up, ch. 73 (1934)
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Added on 30-Jun-23 | Last updated 30-Jun-23
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In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it — and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Inaugural Address (20 Jan 1961) [with Ted Sorensen]
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Added on 13-Jan-22 | Last updated 15-Jul-22
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I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British fabulist
“My New Year Wish,” blog entry (31 Dec 2011)
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Added on 28-Dec-21 | Last updated 22-Dec-22
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To the wrong that needs resistance
To the right that needs assistance
To the future in the distance
Give yourself!

Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947) American women's suffrage activist
Personal Motto
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Conveyed in a letter from Catt to Aletta Jacobs, after the death of Jacobs' husband.
 
Added on 18-Mar-21 | Last updated 18-Mar-21
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Who does the best his circumstance allows
Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more.

Edward Young (1683-1765) English poet
The Complaint: Or, Night Thoughts, Vol. 1, No. 2 “Night the Second: On Time, Death, and Friendship,” ll. 91-92 (1742-11) (1744)
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Added on 26-Feb-21 | Last updated 29-Dec-23
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CHARLIE ANDERSON: I wanna say somethin’. I’ve known since the train that we weren’t liable to find him. It was just a hair of a chance that we got Sam back. I knew that. Maybe I knew even before we left home, but somehow I just had to try! And if we don’t try, we don’t do. And if we don’t do, why are we here on this earth?

James Lee Barrett (1929-1989) American author, producer, screenwriter
Shenandoah (1965)
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Added on 14-Oct-20 | Last updated 14-Oct-20
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To be a writer is to accept failure as a profession — which of us is Dante or Shakespeare? — and could they return, wouldn’t they fall at once to revising, knowing they could make the work better? In our own dwarfed way, we are trying for something like perfection, knowing it is unachievable (except of course that trying and failing is a better way of living than not trying).

John Ciardi (1916-1986) American poet, writer, critic
In Vince Clemente, “‘A Man Is What He Does With His Attention’: A Conversation with John Ciardi,” Poesis, Vol. 7 #2 (1986)
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Added on 26-Aug-20 | Last updated 26-Aug-20
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Do I seem to say, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die?” Far from it; on the contrary, I say, “Let us take hands and help, for this day we are alive together.”

William Kingdon Clifford (1845-1879) English mathematician and philosopher
“The First and the Last Catastrophe,” Popular Science Monthly (Jul 1875)
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Added on 31-Jan-20 | Last updated 31-Jan-20
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It was better, he thought, to fail in attempting exquisite things than to succeed in the department of the utterly contemptible.

Arthur Machen (1863-1947) Welsh author and mystic
The Hill of Dreams, ch. 5 (1907)
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Added on 26-Jan-19 | Last updated 26-Jan-19
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I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.

plath-love-my-rejection-slips-wist_info-quote

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) American poet and author
(Attributed)
 
Added on 23-Jan-17 | Last updated 23-Jan-17
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To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

zinn-itself-a-marvelous-victory-wist_info-quote

Howard Zinn (1922-2010) American historian, academic, author, social activist
“The Optimism of Uncertainty,” The Nation (2 Sep 2004)
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Adopted from Zinn's essay of the same name in Paul Loeb (ed.), The Impossible Will Take a Little While (2004). See also Zinn, "A Marvelous Victory" (23 Feb 2004).
 
Added on 28-Nov-16 | Last updated 11-Dec-16
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It is not yours to finish the task, but neither are you free to set it aside.

tarfon-finish-the-task-wist_info-quote

No picture available
Tarfon (fl. 1st-2nd C AD) Jewish rabbi, sage
Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 2:15-16

Alt. trans.:
  • It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it.
  • It is not up to you to finish the task, but you are not free to avoid it.
  • We need not finish the task but neither can we desist from it.
  • Although I am not free to avoid doing the work, it is not always necessary that I finish the task.
  • You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
 
Added on 21-Nov-16 | Last updated 21-Nov-16
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Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President (1825-29)
Speech, Plymouth (22 Dec 1802)

Sometimes given as "Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
 
Added on 11-Nov-16 | Last updated 11-Nov-16
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YODA: No! Try not. Do — or do not. There is no try.

Lawrence Kasdan (b. 1949) American screenwriter, director, producer
The Empire Strikes Back (1980) [with George Lucas and Leigh Brackett]
 
Added on 5-Feb-16 | Last updated 5-Feb-16
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Rome was not built in a day.

John Clarke (d. 1658) British educator
Proverbs: English and Latine (1639)
 
Added on 5-Aug-15 | Last updated 5-Aug-15
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Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (1987)
 
Added on 18-May-15 | Last updated 18-May-15
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There is a fire-fly in the southern clime
Which shineth only when upon the wing;
So it is with the mind: when once we rest,
We darken.

Phillip James Bailey
Philip James Bailey (1816-1902) English poet, lawyer
Festus, Sc. “A Village Feast – Evening” [Festus] (1839)
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Usually paraphrased (earliest source (1872)):

The firefly only shines when on the wing.
So is it with the mind -- when once we rest
We darken.

 
Added on 30-Mar-15 | Last updated 2-Oct-23
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What one has, one ought to use; and whatever he does he should do with all his might.

[Quod est, eo decet uti: et quicquid agas, agere pro viribus.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Senectute [Cato Maior; On Old Age], ch. 9 / sec. 27 (9.27) (44 BC) [ed. Hoyt (1882)]
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On failing strength in old age.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

A man ought wele for to use in every age of that thyng that nature giveth hym, and also it apperteyneth that thou doo alle thyngs aftir the mesure and aftir the quantyte of thyne owne propre strength and not to usurpe and take the unto gretter thyngs than thou maist not nor hast no power to execute.
[tr. Worcester/Worcester/Scrope (1481)]

For whatsoever is engraffed naturally in man, that is it fit and decent to use; and in all things that he taketh in hand to labour, and to do his diligent endeavour according to his strength.
[tr. Newton (1569)]

For that which is naturally ingraffed in a man, that it becommeth him to use, and to desire to do nothing above his strength.
[tr. Austin (1648)]

Then with that force content, which Nature gave,
Nor am I now displeas'd with what I have.
[tr. Denham (1669)]

What strength and vigour, we have still remaining, ought to be preserv'd, by making the best use of them while we are able.
[tr. Hemming (1716)]

What a Man has, he ought to use; and whatever he does, to do it according to his Power.
[tr. J. D. (1744)]

For it is our business only to make the best use we can of the powers granted us by nature, and whatever we take in hand, to do it with all our might.
[tr. Logan (1750)]

It is sufficient if we exert with spirit, upon every proper occasion, that degree of strength which still remains with us.
[tr. Melmoth (1773)]

What is, that it becomes you to employ; and whatever you do, to do it according to the measure of your powers.
[Cornish Bros. ed. (1847)]

What one has, that one ought to use; and whatever you do, you should do it with all your strength.
[tr. Edmonds (1874)]

It is becoming to make use of what one has, and whatever you do, to do in proportion to your strength.
[tr. Peabody (1884)]

You should use what you have, and whatever you may chance to be doing, do it with all your might.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1900)]

What nature gives to man, that let him use:
Still fit your work according to your strength.
[tr. Allison (1916)]

Such strength as a man has he should use, and whatever he does should be done in proportion to his strength.
[tr. Falconer (1923)]

Use what you have: that is the right way; do what’s to be done in proportion as you have the strength for it.
[tr. Copley (1967)]

Whatever strength you have at any given moment, you should use; and whatever you do, you should do it within the limitations of that strength.
[tr. Cobbold (2012)]

You use what you have and gauge your activities accordingly.
[tr. Gerberding (2014)]

You see, It’s a lot better to proceed
With your own strength and anything you do
According to your strength you should pursue.
[tr. Bozzi (2015)]

 
Added on 10-Feb-15 | Last updated 2-Nov-23
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When we watch a child trying to walk, we see its countless failures; its success are but few. If we had to limit our observation within a narrow space of time, the sight would be cruel. But we find that in spite of its repeated failures, there is an impetus of joy in the child which sustains it in its seemingly impossible task. We see it does not think of its falls so much as of its power to keep its balance though for only a moment.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian Bengali poet, philosopher [a.k.a. Rabi Thakur, Kabiguru]
Sadhana: The Realization of Life, ch. 3 (1913)
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Added on 20-Jan-15 | Last updated 20-Jan-15
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The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that costs.

Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, Marquise du Deffand (1697-1780) French hostess and patron of the arts [Madame du Deffand].
Letter to Horace Walpole (6 Jun 1767)
 
Added on 5-Jan-15 | Last updated 5-Jan-15
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In love, in war, in conversation, in business, confidence and resolution are the principal things.

William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Table Talk, “On the Qualifications Necessary to Success in Life” (1822)
 
Added on 26-Dec-14 | Last updated 26-Dec-14
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Smile on this
My bold endeavour.

[Audacibus annue coeptis]

Virgil the Poet
Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
Georgics [Georgica], Book 1, l. 40ff (1.40) (29 BC) [tr. Rhoades (1881)]
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Great Seal of the United States (reverse)Calling on (now declared divine) Augustus Caesar to bless his poetry. This line, and a similar one in Virgil's Aeneid (9.625), inspired the phrase "Annuit cœptis" ("He [God] has favored our undertakings") on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Aid my bold design.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

To my bold Endeavours add thy Force.
[tr. Dryden (1709), l. 60]

Aid my bold design.
[tr. Nevile (1767), l. 50]

Favour my adventurous enterprise.
[tr. Davidson (1854)]

Bid my gallant enterprise succeed.
[tr. Blackmore (1871)]

Favor my bold emprise.
[tr. Wilkins (1873)]

Our bold endeavor bless.
[tr. King (1882)]

Favor my adventurous enterprise.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]

Favour my bold endeavour.
[tr. Mackail (1899)]

Smile on this
My bold endeavour.
[tr. Greenough (1900)]

O smile upon this my bold emprise!
[tr. Way (1912)]

Give assent to my bold emprise.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1916)]

Be gracious to this my bold design.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1940)]

Condone this enterprise
Of bold experiment.
[tr. Bovie (1956)]

I hope for an easy passage in this bold venture.
[tr. Slavitt (1971)]

Assent to bold undertakings.
[tr. Miles (1980)]

Smile on my enterprise.
[tr. Wilkinson (1982)]

Agree to my bold beginning.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

Assent to this work boldly begun.
[tr. Lembke (2004)]

Bless the boldness of this undertaking.
[tr. Fallon (2006)]

Approve my bold endeavour.
[tr. Johnson (2009)]

Grant me the right to enter upon this bold
Adventure of mine.
[tr. Ferry (2015)]

Look with favor upon a bold beginning.
[Bartlett's]

 
Added on 5-Nov-12 | Last updated 25-Oct-23
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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
(Spurious)

A common "inspirational" quote, frequently attributed to Twain, but not found in writings. Earliest found is in H. Jackson Brown, P.S. I Love You (1990), attributed to Brown's mother. More info here.

 
Added on 13-Jun-11 | Last updated 26-Jan-19
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Nought venter nought have.

John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbes, Part 1, ch. 11 (1564)
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More commonly rendered, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
 
Added on 27-Apr-09 | Last updated 13-Jul-20
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It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little. Do what you can.

Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy, Lecture 19 “On the Conduct of the Understanding, Part 2” (1849)
    (Source)

Based on a lecture in a series given at the Royal Institution (1804-1806).
 
Added on 17-Nov-08 | Last updated 14-Nov-23
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There are two great rules in life, the one general and the other particular. The first is that every one can in the end get what he wants if he only tries. This is the general rule. The particular rule is that every individual is more or less of an exception to the general rule.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
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Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 5-Sep-19
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For there is no comparison between that which we may lose by not trying and by not succeeding; since by not trying we throw away the chance of an immense good; by not succeeding we only incur the loss of a little human labour. But as it is, it appears to me from what has been said, and also from what has been left unsaid, that there is hope enough and to spare, not only to make a bold man try, but also to make a sober-minded and wise man believe.

[Non enim res pari periculo non tentatur, et no succedit; cum in illo ingentis boni, in hoc exiguae humanae operae, jactura vertatur. Verum ex dictis, atque etiam ex non dictis, visum est nobis spei abunde subesse, non tantum homini strenuo ad experiendum, sed etiam prudenti et sobrio ad credendum.]

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
Instauratio Magna, Part 2 “Novum Organum” [The New Organon],” Book 1, Aphorism # 114 (1620) [tr. Spedding (1858)]
    (Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For the risk attending want of success is not to be compared with that of neglecting the attempt; the former is attended with the loss of a little human labour, the latter with that of an immense benefit. For these and other reasons, it appears to us that there is abundant ground to hope, and to induce not only those who are sanguine to make experiment, but even those who are cautious and sober to give their assent.
[tr. Wood (1831)]

For it is not a case where there is an equal risk in not trying and not succeeding; since in the former instance we risk a huge advantage; in the latter a little human labour is thrown away. But from what has been said, and also from what has not been said, it seems to us that there is abundant ground of hope, not only to justify a stout-hearted man in trying, but even a prodent and sober man in believing.
[tr. Johnson (1859)]

For the danger of not trying and the danger of not succeeding are not equal, since the former risks the loss of great good, the latter of a little human effort. But from what we have said and from other things which we have not said, it has seemed to us that we have abundance of hope, whether we are men who press forward to meet new experiences, or whether we are careful and slow to believe.
[tr. Silverthorne (2000) "The Great Renewal"]

The loss that may come from not trying is much greater than what may come from trying and not succeeding: by not trying we throw away the chance of an immense good; by not succeeding we only incur the loss of a little human labour. But from what I have said (and from some things that I haven’t said) it seems to me that there is more than enough hope not only to get a vigorous man to try but also to make a sober-minded and wise man believe that he will succeed.
[tr. Bennett (2017)]

 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 13-Dec-23
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I have tried my best to give the nation everything I had in me. There are probably a million people who could have done the job better than I did it, but I had the job and I had to do it, and I always quote an epitaph on a tombstone in Tombstone, Ariz.: “Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest.”

Harry S Truman (1884-1972) US President (1945-1953)
Time, “The Presidency: The Answer Man” (28 Apr. 1952)

Speaking in Winslow, AZ (15 Jun 1948), Truman said, "You know, the greatest epitaph in the country is here in Arizona. It’s in Tombstone, Ariz., and this epitaph says, 'Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damndest.' I think that is the greatest epitaph a man could have."
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 20-Jun-16
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